


In the Nick of Time

by theanonymouslibrarians



Category: Bartimaeus - Jonathan Stroud, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-06
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2019-07-25 21:54:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16206422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theanonymouslibrarians/pseuds/theanonymouslibrarians
Summary: Post Ptolemy's Gate, a blue box appears in Nathaniel's living room and an odd looking man pops out asking for someone named Rekhyt because someone named Ptolemy wants to talk to him.





	1. Ptolemy and the Doctor

**Author's Note:**

> Note: I do not own the Bartimaeus Sequence or Doctor Who, or any of their characters. Forgive me if the characters seems a bit OOC or poorly written. It's my first Doctor Who/Bartimaeus crossover. Basically this is just an excuse to have Ptolemy meet Nathaniel without them both being dead.

Ptolemy watches Rekhyt disappear, just as the assassins break through the wall. He hopes his friend sees him salute before he leaves, but takes comfort that Rekhyt at least will live to see another day. Falling back onto the floor, Ptolemy closes his eyes. He expects to feel the spirit's talons or flames any second. Instead, he hears a loud whirring sound. 

Is this some new weapon? He opens his eyes, only to see a strange looking blue box appearing, right at his side. An odd guise for a spirit to take. But his cousin's spirits are halted and staring at it, as well. And then, the box opens, and a man steps out. 

The man is tall and lanky, with a pale complexion, dark hair, and a grin that's a bit too wide. 

"Good old Clom!" The man exclaims, although no one else is in sight, "I've been meaning to come back for simply ages! But I..." He glances around and his eyes narrow. "...this looks quite different than I remember." He sees Ptolemy and beams at him. "Hello! Can you tell me where we are?" Ptolemy can only bring himself to moan, and the man's grin fades. "Well, _you_ do not look very good. Not at all!" He crouches down next to Ptolemy, examining his injuries. "It's alright though," He soothes, "I'm the Doctor." And scooping Ptolemy into his arms, he begins to haul him towards his box. 

This shakes the spirits' out of their shock, and Ptolemy can see them lunge towards them as the doors to the box close. But somehow the doors hold, and the man called The Doctor begins to fuss over Ptolemy, bringing out strange devices and telling him not to worry; he's sure he can fix him up good as new. 


	2. A Long Wait

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I do not own the Bartimaeus Sequence or Doctor Who or any of their characters. Forgive me if the characters seems a bit OOC or poorly written. It's my first Doctor Who/Bartimaeus crossover.

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor says, after he finishes listening to Ptolemy's story. "I can't take you back to your own time." 

  


Ptolemy frowns in confusion. "But Rekhyt...he'll think I'm dead! I need to tell him-" 

  


"And that's just it." The Doctor sighs. "You see, if your Rekhyt is who I think he is...if his name is Bartimaeus?" 

  


Ptolemy doesn't ask how the man knows this. In the past few days he's seen wonders that go beyond anything he's ever witnessed. Technology that does things even Bartimaeus can't do. Medical devices that have brought him back from the brink of death. It seems only natural to him that the Doctor would know Rekhyt's true name. 

  


"Bartimaeus has a very big part to play. Not here, but in the future, in a place called London. After you...after he thinks you die, Bartimaeus never forgets you. He grieves for you and he wears your form. One day, in the future, his bond with you motivates him to save the lives of thousands of people. I'll let him tell you the story, but if he knows you're alive now, in the time we just left...it's possible that he won't make the same decisions." 

  


"But he'll suffer! And it will all be-" 

  


"I know," the Doctor says, "and I am so, so sorry. I know what it's like to lose someone. To lose everything..." And the look in his eyes tells Ptolemy that the Doctor has lost more than he could ever say. "But if we change time...there's no telling how many people will suffer. But," and he grins, "I can still take you to see him. Not now, but after 2005. After he's made that decision. And I think you and he will have a lot to talk about." 


	3. Jealous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: I do not own the Bartimaeus Sequence or Doctor Who, or any of their characters.

Nathaniel is prepared to hate Ptolemy. Nathaniel has so few people he can actually call friends, and while Nathaniel isn't quite sure what he and Bartimaeus are to each other now, they can at least be called friends. When Ptolemy had been safely dead, Nathaniel could think of him with respect and help Bartimaeus honor him. But when a loud whirring noise resounds throughout his house, a big blue box shows up in Nathaniel's living room and a man sticks his head out asking if someone named Rekhyt is there because an Egyptian boy named Ptolemy would like to speak with him, Nathaniel can't help but feel like the other boy is stealing something from him. 

But when an all too familiar looking boy emerges from the box in a wheelchair, looking worn out and older than his 14 years, but very much alive, Nathaniel can't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the boy who gave up everything in the pursuit of knowledge and love. And when Nathaniel summons Bartimaeus, and the djinni is for once at a loss of words and can only hold Ptolemy as if letting him go would mean certain death, Nathaniel can't quite bring himself to feel anything more than a slight jealousy toward the other boy. 


End file.
